Reading Glances
by StarstruckLily
Summary: People always talk about the bad sides to gambling without ever seeing the good. After all, one night my ability to read people allowed me to witness the beginning of one of the most amazing relationships I've ever seen.


AN: Written for Stagey, because she's awesome and she needs to be cheered up. Yes.

-

People always talk about the bad sides to gambling without ever seeing the good. Yeah, I lose a lot of money that way, and yeah, I've had to borrow money to eat or pay for my lodging more than a few times because of it. Probably the bad side that bothers me most is the disapproval of my friends and the occasional disapproval of my girl. However, one good side to it always has the ability to make me smile.

Over the years, I've gotten astonishingly good at knowing what people are thinking. All the nights of reading the other guys' poker faces has finally paid off in the ability to know exactly what each of my friends is thinking at any given moment. One particular night at Irving Hall, it allowed me to witness the beginning of one of the most amazing relationships I've ever seen.

-

I walked into Medda's joint that night with a spring in my step. I wasn't planning on playing poker that night- I'd had a string of bad luck lately and was running low on cash- but was instead spending the evening with my friends and my girl. It was the one-year anniversary of the rally we'd had during the strike, and Medda had agreed to let us all in for free.

There were even more newsies there for the anniversary than there had been for the actual occasion. The anniversary party had been planned well in advance, after all, and there were many more of New York's finest than there had been the year before. I found myself not recognizing most of the people I saw as I edged around the room, looking for my friends.

I finally found them all at a large table. Most of the older Manhattan newsies were there with their respective better halves, as well as Spot Conlon and a few other Brooklyn newsies. I took a seat between my best friend, Blink, and my girl, Lily, but she barely glanced up from her conversation with the girl next to her.

I curiously peeked around Lily to see who she was talking to and saw Stagey, a relatively new addition to the Manhattan LH. She was nice enough, always seemed to be smiling, but tonight I could see that the smile was plastered on. I wanted to know what had happened to dampen her mood on such a fine night, but didn't feel that I was close enough to her to ask… so, being me, I decided to eavesdrop.

"Ya could always try talking to him," Lily said, in a voice that I knew hid exasperation.

"Lil, he doesn't like me like that… I'm like a sister to him or somethin'."

"Ya don't know that, an ya nevah gonna find out for sure unless ya talk to him!"

"I can't do that… he'll just laugh at me, or say he don't like me like that an' we should just be friends."

"Well, at least then you'll know!"

Their conversation fell into silence and I retreated into my own thoughts. Apparently Stagey liked a guy, that much was obvious. The question was, which one? Stagey wasn't one much for flirting, and though I had gathered from their argument that he was single, that didn't really narrow it down. It could have been Blink, Mush, Bumlets, Jack…

I glanced up the table to look at our leader. He and Stagey certainly seemed chummy enough, so it seemed to me that he was the most likely candidate of her affections. To my surprise, our leader was looking rather down himself considering it was the anniversary of one of his finest moments. He was staring at his hands, a rather moody look on his face, barely laughing at the jokes he was being told. Anyone that knew him well, and even those who didn't, could see that something was bothering him.

I was distracted at that time by Stagey cutting in front of my vision on her way to the powder room, accompanied by a frustrated noise from Lily. I turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Problem?"

"Yeah…" she sighed. "Stagey likes Jack, right? But she won't tell him! An' honestly I think it'd be good for both of 'em, he's lookin' pretty down himself."

"Well, what are ya gonna do about it, talk ta Cowboy?"

"Nah, I promised I wouldn' tell anyone, she's gonna be mad that I even told you."

"Well, what if…" The look on Lily's face brightened considerably as I whispered my plan in her ear. With any luck we would make two of our best friends happy and still have time to enjoy the night ourselves.

Lily left my side to put the first step of our plan into action while I anxiously drummed my fingers on the table and waited for Stagey to come back. By the time she had worked her way back to the table, phase one was complete. Stagey took the seat next to me and glanced over.

"Race, where'd Lily go?"

"Dancin' with Cowboy. He seemed kinda down, ya know? Thing is, now I ain't got anyone ta dance with." I gave Stagey my most charming grin as I continued. "You wouldn' wanna dance, would ya?" I stood and offered her a hand, which she stared at for a moment before taking it and rising herself.

"I guess it couldn't hurt."

I led her down to the crowded dance floor where we joined the numerous other couples. We talked a bit while we danced, but for the most part we looked for the same couple; she to catch a glimpse of Jack, I to carry out phase three of our plan. Fortunately, luck was with Lily and I, and we were in the same area on the floor as they were when the song switched over to a new, slower melody. I took Stagey by the hand and led her over to Jack.

"'Scuse me, Jack, but I need to cut in." I gave Jack the same charming grin I'd given Stagey as he smirked at me. "Would ya horribly mind taking Stagey heah so's I can dance with Lil?"

Lily quickly transferred herself from Jack's arms to mine and we discreetly retreated up to the balcony so that we could have a better view. After the time it took us to reach the balcony, they were still standing on the floor, staring at each other.

"Are ya kiddin' me?" I moaned.

"No, this could be good!" Lily insisted. "I mean, Jack ain' nevah shy around goils, right? So maybe this means he likes her!"

I thought she was grasping at straws until I looked at Jack again. Our so-called 'fearless leader' looked… well, scared, or nervous, at least. As we watched the music hit a crescendo and Jack was suddenly jerked back to reality. Lily hopped in excitement next to me as he pulled Stagey into his arms, spinning her slowly to the song. As they circled I was given glances of their faces and I began to give Lily a commentary on what they were thinking.

"Okay, Stagey's lookin' shy about somethin'… Cowboy's kinda nervous, I think, but he's got that look like he's tellin' a joke… good, she's laughin'!"

"What's he lookin' like?" I was rather surprised to hear Blink's voice instead of Lily's, and even more surprised when I realized that my commentary was bringing in a crowd. I sighed resignedly and turned back to the dance floor.

"Uh, he looks kinda relieved… aw, he just dipped her!" Lily squealed excitedly next to me. "Yeah, yeah, they're adorable. He's definitely holdin' her a little closer, they're both lookin' more comfortable with each othah…"

"This is so romantic!" A girl I vaguely recognized squealed behind me. Other than that, the entire balcony was at a stand still as we watched Cowboy and Stagey… barring, of course, all the couples that were so inspired by the romance as to start kissing up in the balcony. Lily followed my gaze and chuckled before prodding me and pointing back to the dance floor.

"Alright, they're dancin' again… they definitely look more comfortable… they're barely movin' now, jus' kinda rockin' to the beat." There was a collective 'aw!' at that one. "Um, she jus' kissed his cheek…" Another 'aw!' and I rolled my eyes before I continued. "An… wow… he jus' kissed her."

"Like, on the lips?" Mush said, trying to peek over my shoulder.

"Yeah… an' now they're goin' somewheah…"

"Wait, what?"

Now, I don't even know who said that, as the balcony was fully crowded and most of the newsies were kids that I didn't even recognize. I turned to Lily.

"Well, as the show's ovah with, wanna get outta heah?"

-

Lily and I meandered back to the LH somewhat late that night- she had fallen asleep in Central Park and I didn't have the heart to wake her- but we still beat Jack and Stagey back. It was sometime in the wee hours that I finally heard whispered voices in the hallway, followed shortly by Cowboy slipping into our bunkroom as Stagey went on to the girls' room. I heard more voices in their room as Lily, and no doubt a few of the others, began questioning her. I myself stole over to Cowboy's bunk.

"So, Cowboy," the smirk in my voice was obvious even in the dark, "Stagey, huh?"

"Yeah."

"That's interestin'." He chuckled lightly.

"Ya really gonna act like you an' Lily didn' set us up?"

"Well, it was worth a shot…" He laughed again.

"Anyways, t'anks. She's really nice, ya know? We got ta talkin' while we were dancin'…"

"Yeah, I know. We were watchin'."

"I figured as much, but how could ya know what was happenin'?"

I couldn't help but laugh at Jack's question, as the answer should have been obvious to someone who had known me for as long as he had.

"Ya should know this, Cowboy- I'se a pokah playah."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, I'se an expert at readin' glances."

With that I left my friend and went back to my bunk. I would get whatever details I had somehow missed from Lily in the morning. Until then, I was content with what my skills had shown me, and with the knowledge that two of my friends were happy.

After all, it's the little things in life that count, right?

-

AN: Hugs to Stagey because she's awesome.

Anyways, let me know what you think, please.


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